Warning Shots Across the Bow From God

      Many people who have been paying attention  to recent alarming world-wide events have become “preppers” - meaning that  they are preparing.  Preparing for what?  We can just about take our pick.  Do we want to prepare for World War III ?  Or, there’s that menacing Planet X, also known as Nibiru, headed our way.  , There’s also the annoying “economic collapse” of America and maybe even the whole world.   We can pretty much choose from a whole kaleidoscope of impending disasters, it’s really “a buffet of doom” from which to select, with a wide variety of items to suit every apocalyptic appetite.  Anyone with an IQ above that of an artichoke can see that the world is in big trouble. Someone is definitely trying to get our attention.  If Deep Water Horizon didn’t alarm us as it fouled the Gulf, or the tons of dead fish and birds worldwide, or the massive record-breaking earthquakes --

• Haiti =  January 12, 2010 – death toll almost 200,000, a 7.0 quake that was called “the worst earthquake recorded in 200 years”.  (Many still dying from cholera).   
• New Zealand, a 7.1 quake,  Feb. 22, 2011, leaving the city of Christchurch in ruins.
• March 11 – Japan quake, “strongest quake ever recorded”, leading to a devastating tsunami.  Currently almost a million Japanese are now homeless.   

     And then, of course, there is the Fukushima debacle. an almost-end-time scenario as the Japanese dump tons of radioactive water into the Pacific, and plumes of radioactivity jet stream their way towards Canada and the US.   Volcanoes worldwide are popping their corks, sinkholes are gulping down houses, cars, and even people, the earth is literally cracking apart in many regions,  and the alarming news just goes on and on as we all  say to ourselves "gee, I don't remember auditioning  for this episode of  "The Twilight Zone"!

Jesus said: “… there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:7-8)   Evidently, we must  be witnessing the “beginning of sorrows”.  God has always sent warnings ahead of His ‘really big moves’.  I submit that, with all that we have witnessed in recent months, God has been sending His “warning shot across the bow” so to speak.  For those actually paying attention, He has been saying “Get Ready, bigger stuff is about to happen.”  We have only seen the preliminaries, the main event is still before us.  I suppose we can prepare by storing up water, food, and medical supplies, as many preppers are.  But there is more  to preparing than food storage.
     It really IS time to repent... time to lay aside  old feuds, to forgive others, time to clean up our language and use our mouth to glorify God instead of spewing profanity, time to stop doing God a favor by “flocking” to the church merely at Christmas and Easter as the lukewarm do, but to resolutely  march ahead whole-heartedly in serious repentance and devotion.  It is time to blow the dust off the family Bible and actually get into it and let it get into us.   
     In the days of the Gulf Oil Spill, The governors of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, and the lieutenant governor of Florida all issued similar proclamations for prayer.  Here is a part of Gov. Perry’s proclamation:  "NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICK PERRY, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim Sunday, June 27, 2010, as a Day of Prayer in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and religious traditions to offer prayers on that day for the healing of individuals, the rebuilding of communities and the restoration of  the entire Gulf Coast environment in the wake of this disaster."  Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour had this to proclaim:"WHEREAS, "Prayer allows us an opportunity to reflect and to seek guidance, strength, comfort and inspiration from Almighty God…”  As I read these proclamations many months ago, I noticed one glaring absence – there was no mention of repentance, no acknowledgment of sin.  No confirmation that the citizens of the states may have tripped up on some things and offended God in any way.  No wording that indicated any sorrow for sin, remorse for wrong-doing, disdain for disobeying God, or regret for godless activities such as abortion-on-demand, preposterous political correctness, Pride parades and tolerance of Evil.  The Prayer Proclamations were all about “what we want God to do for us”, not “what we may have done against God and His commandments”.   It is an offense to God when we pray with  no acknowledgement of sin, and no intention to change our behavior after we receive His blessing.  We treat Him  as if He were some  Cosmic Santa in the Sky with a bagful of  blessings to bestow upon us whenever we want them, while we  give nothing in return.   “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer,..." I Peter 3:12.  Perhaps it is time to make sure we are  part of the company of the righteous – people who really take God at His Word,  and who are intent upon repentance and obedience.  We’re getting plenty of  warnings, He has put us on notice.  It is way past time to pay attention and get smart about being serious with God.  Hebrews 5:9 tells us that Jesus the Messiah, “ became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”  In the original Greek the meaning is" those who continue to obey Him as a way of life."  He is not the source of salvation for those who get warm feelings about Him at Christmas, for those who show up at church for their annual  Easter morning visit, or for those who “used to go to Sunday School when I was little”.  Very important words = " those who obey Him (as a way of life).”  -- It’s pretty self-explanatory, we don't have to be a genius to understand it, we just have to love Him enough to obey Him.
     We’ve been warned.   The time is short.  The Messiah Himself said “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44)